I work in Vienna, have a small flat here, and a house from my parents in China. What happens if something happens to me?
Your co-pilot in inheritance law
Mag. Nevena Shotekova-Zöchling
Attorney in Vienna · 16 years of legal practice · Inheritance law
Two countries, two inheritance laws, and for the same estate two different results.
One life, two inheritance laws
He has worked in Vienna for many years. Here he has a small flat, a wife and a daughter. In his home region in China stands the house his parents passed on to him. His mother still lives there. He comes with a simple question: “If something happens to me, will my wife and daughter get everything?”
The honest answer: not necessarily.
Two countries, two inheritance laws, and for the same estate two different results.
Austrian law applies to the flat in Vienna: without a will, his wife and daughter inherit. For the house in China, Chinese authorities would in practice decide under Chinese law. And under Chinese law, parents are first-order heirs, on an equal footing with spouse and children. Without a will, his mother would therefore have inherited a share of the house, and the family in Vienna would have had to sort this out in China without knowing the language or the authorities.
In the end the solution was simple: two wills, carefully coordinated. One for the assets in Austria, one for the house in China. Each governs only its own country, so that the later one does not accidentally revoke the earlier one.
The lesson: if you have assets in two countries, you need a plan for both. During your lifetime that is easy, afterwards rarely.
What the law says
- From the Austrian point of view: if you last live in Austria, under the EU Succession Regulation Austrian inheritance law applies in principle to all your assets. As a Chinese citizen, you can choose Chinese law in your will instead.
- From the Chinese point of view: under Chinese private international law, real estate in China is governed by the law of the place where it is located. In practice, therefore, the house is dealt with in China and under Chinese law.
- Who inherits in China: under the Chinese Civil Code, without a will the spouse, children and parents inherit first, in equal shares. In Austria, parents do not inherit alongside children.
- Form of the will: China recognises a will if it complies with the form of the state of residence, of nationality or of the place where it was made. The new Civil Code permits, in addition to handwritten wills, printed and audio-visual wills, each under strict conditions. If more than one will exists, the later one generally prevails.
- Documents: China has been a member of the Hague Apostille Convention since November 2023. Austrian documents for China now generally only need an apostille instead of a chain of authentication via the consulate.
What you should do now
- Make a will for Austria, deposited and registered.
- A coordinated will for the house in China that governs only the Chinese assets, ideally in a form that Chinese authorities accept without detours.
- Clearly separate both wills, so that one does not revoke the other.
- Keep the documents on the house ready: proof of ownership, register extract, names of family members in both scripts.
How the EU Succession Regulation works in principle: My mother lived in Vienna, the house is in Bulgaria, my brother lives in Germany. Who has jurisdiction? →
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